Youth News

During the month of April, the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and Oklahoma Farm Report is spotlighting the twenty Area Stars of Oklahoma FFA that are among the highest achievers in the organization. The stars come from the five areas in four categories- Star in Ag Placement, Star in Agriscience, Star in Agribusiness and Star in Production Agriculture. This week, we are spotlighting the five area stars in Agriscience, who will compete for the State Star Award in Agriscience during the Oklahoma State FFA Convention coming up May 1-2, 2018 in Oklahoma City.

We begin our coverage this week spotlighting the Southwest Area Star in Agriscience, Amy White of the Tipton FFA Chapter. Generally in the Agriscience category, you will find those FFA members participating have only one project that they’ve devoted their time to over the course of their FFA career. In White’s case, though, she has conducted four projects since her 8th Grade year. In that time, she has studied what soil temperatures are best suited for seed growth at different times of the year and what plasticulture tools work best in each situation; she has identified and classified the most popular Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) projects that FFA members participate in on the local, state and national level; she has experimented with fodder barley, discovering how one 50 lb. bag of can be turned into 300 lbs. of livestock feed in just seven days; and she has worked the last two years to define the sociological significance of equine therapy.

“It is all about how people view equine therapy. I had a whole survey at the Oklahoma Youth Expo,” she explained. “I asked one hundred random people if they knew what the differences between canine, equine and psychotherapy were. My final question of that survey was, ‘If you knew someone with disabilities, what therapy would you suggest and why?’”

According to her research, 43 of the 100 respondents to the survey, chose canine therapy. Forty-two, picked equine and 15 said psychotherapy. White hypothesizes the reason behind this overwhelming response in favor of animal related treatment is because people would rather confide in a pet rather than be judged by a human.

In addition to her agriscience projects, White is also active in many other FFA activities including her chapter’s ag sales team and communications team as well as participating in many other leadership activities throughout the year and she also shows pigs and dairy cattle. Overall, she says the FFA has helped her immensely in her personal growth.

“It’s helped me a lot. It’s helped me develop personal leadership skills that not everybody can get from just sitting in school,” she said. “It’s taught me so much and given me experiences I can use in the future.”

You can hear her entire conversation with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays, by clicking or tapping on the LISTEN BAR below.

Our salute of the 2018 Area Stars of the Oklahoma FFA is brought to you by American Farmers & Ranchers and AFR Insurance, proud to support Oklahoma’s youth. Visit the AFR website by clicking or tapping here to learn more on how AFR supports the young people of Oklahoma, and how AFR can provide you with quality insurance for your home, auto, farm, and life.